Christmas tree!” Emily cried.
Chantelle’s eyes grew round and excited. “Of course. But we need more than one, don’t we? We need one for the ballroom and one for the hallway. And one for Trevor’s. And the spa. And the restaurant.”
“Sounds like you need a whole forest,” Amy joked.
“How about we all go tomorrow?” Emily suggested. “Yvonne was telling me about an amazing Christmas Tree farm out of town. It’s not the one we went to last year, it’s supposed to be really huge. We could make a day of it?”
“Can Nana Patty come too?” Chantelle asked.
Emily shook her head. “She’s leaving today,” she said.
Chantelle’s expression became downcast. Emily hated to see her sad.
“Why don’t you ask her?” she suggested.
Patricia had been surprising her recently. Maybe she’d stick around if they made it clear they wanted her too.
Chantelle bounded out the ballroom and down the corridor, to where Patricia was relaxing in the living room.
“Nana Patty!” Chantelle cried, her voice loud enough to carry all the way to where Emily was waddling through the house, trying to catch up to her. “Can you come Christmas tree shopping with us tomorrow?”
Emily entered the living room, just as Patricia was shaking her head.
“I have a flight booked to get me home,” Patricia said. “It’s leaving this evening.”
“Please,” Chantelle said. She got onto the couch beside Patricia and wrapped her arms around her neck. “I really, really want you to stay.”
Patricia looked stunned by the affection. She patted Chantelle’s arm and looked up at Emily standing in the doorway. Emily smiled, touched by the sweet scene, by how much love Chantelle had to give, even to those who had behaved in ways that ought to preclude it. Her capacity for forgiveness and kindness always inspired Emily.
“Well, I don’t want to be in the way,” Patricia said, speaking to Chantelle but directing her words at Emily.
“You’re not in the way,” Emily said. “We’ve loved having you here. And it’s not like the inn is busy at the moment. It’s the perfect time to stay. If you want.”
“Please!” Chantelle begged.
Finally, Patricia smiled. “Okay. I will stay and help you pick out a tree.”
Emily could tell that Patricia was touched to be invited, to be welcome in after all her bad behavior and the terrible fights they’d had. Emily felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude then, realizing that life could always change for the better. It seemed that one was never too old to feel Christmas cheer for the first time!
Chapter Two
Chantelle looked overjoyed when Emily and Daniel arrived to pick her up from school the next day, with Patricia sitting patiently in the back seat. She looked very out of place in the truck in her two-piece outfit and blazer combo but Chantelle didn’t seem to notice. She leaped into the backseat, beaming, her cheeks pink from the chilly weather.
“Christmas tree time!” she declared.
Daniel drove them. The weather still hadn’t fully turned yet, though it was much colder than it had been. There wasn’t even any frost, which was common at this time of year. Emily was grateful that the weather had held up so far. It meant that Evan, Clyde and Stu had been able to do their work on the island unimpeded.
The Christmas Tree farm was quite a way out of Sunset Harbor. They could, of course, just go to the depot at Ellsworth, but that was hardly a magical experience for Chantelle! So they went even further, to the one in Taunton Bay.
As they pulled down the small, bumpy, potholed road that lead to the farm, Emily could see the extra journey was well worth it. The Christmas Tree farm was enormous, and thanks to the sloping hillside that ran all the way down from the road to the lake, they had an amazing view of all the trees.
“It’s like a whole forest of Christmas,” Chantelle said, in awe.
Daniel pulled up into the makeshift lot, which was really just a patch of flattened ground, covered in hay to stop it becoming too muddy. There was a small wood-panelled house to one side, with a handmade sign proclaiming; Christmas Trees!
Emily looked over at Patricia in the backseat beside Chantelle. She was wearing her typical snooty expression, and peering out the window with a fearful expression for the dirty ground she was about to step on. But she held her tongue and Emily smiled to herself. That, in itself, felt like a small victory.
Everyone climbed out of the pickup truck, just at the same time the front door to the house opened. A man stepped out, waving at them. He seemed very jolly, with a round belly. Emily wondered if he’d ever considered becoming a Santa, he certainly had the look for it.
“Hi folks!” he said, grinning. “I’m Terry. Are you here to cut down your own tree?”
“We certainly are,” Daniel said.
Chantelle hurried up to the man. “Actually, we need five trees. We have an inn, you see, and a restaurant and spa and they all need a tree. So does the ballroom.”
“How about we just start with one?” Emily suggested, thinking of the fact there were no guests at the inn right now to enjoy the trees. “Then if we need more, we can come back for another day trip.”
That seemed to please Chantelle, and she nodded in agreement.
Terry showed them the tools they would need, then they waved goodbye and headed out into the forest of trees. Emily thought of the farm they’d visited last year, which had been very busy, run more like a fare with tractor rides and hot chocolate to purchase. She liked this more back-to-basics experience, especially since the moment they were inside the forest everything became very quiet.
“It’s like we’re the only people in the world,” she said, her hands protectively cradling her bump.
She looked back to see how Patricia was getting on. Despite walking on her tiptoes and wearing a slightly pinched expression, she wasn’t complaining at all. Emily wondered if perhaps she might be enjoying herself, though too proud to admit it.
“Nana Patty,” Chantelle said, hurrying back and grasping her hand. “I think there’s some really, really dark green ones over here. Come on!”
Emily smiled to herself as she watched her daughter pull her mom along. She couldn’t recall a time when Patricia had been so compliant, joining in with an activity. Chantelle was clearly rubbing off on her.
Daniel put an arm around Emily’s shoulders, bringing her body close to his.
“This is wonderful, isn’t it?” he said. “I love how enthusiastic she gets about these sort of things. I can’t wait to see how much she enjoys Hanukkah.”
“What date does it start this year?” Emily asked him.
“Sixteenth.”
“So after Charlotte has joined us?” she asked, grinning, thinking about having a newborn in the house during this wonderful time of the year, when everyone was celebrating.
“Maybe even on the first day,” he said, smiling. “Wouldn’t that be lovely?”
Emily nodded in agreement. It would certainly be delightful for Daniel to have his daughter born on such a significant day.
Just then, they heard Chantelle calling through the trees.
“Mom! Dad! We’ve got it!”
They smiled at one another then trudge towards her voice. Chantelle was standing next to gorgeous tree, with the darkest pines Emily had ever seen. It was wonderfully symmetrical, too, the sort of perfect tree that would be used in magazines. And of course, it was enormous.
“Nana Patty chose it,” Chantelle said, looking proudly at Patricia.
“Did